Asian meeting places face closure after fag ban

SHISHA cafes in the north west face closure after MPs voted to make smoking illegal in all public indoor places within 18 months. The ban would mean the end of shisha cafes whose clients are mainly Muslims who use shisha as an alternative to drinking alcohol, forbidden in Islam. There are at least three shisha cafes in Manchester and several in West Yorkshire. They are all facing closure because almost their entire income comes from hiring out hookah pipes to customers. The hookahs contain flavoured tobacco, including apple, strawberry, chocolate and banana. They are one of the few places that Muslim men and women mix socially. One such place in Manchester's 'curry mile', the Casablanca, believed that the ban should not apply to shisha cafes. Manager Iraqi-born Ammar Mohammed said his livelihood would be destroyed. "This time next year I don't know what I will do," he said. "We were opposed to the ban, but there's nothing that can be done now. "At least in a pub, owners can make money out of selling alcohol, our main source of income is from shisha. "Although we sell food, it is not what clients want. "Shisha is very popular with Arabs and Asians alike as it is a peaceful pasttime. Many young Asians come to Casablanca because they can relax in a halal environment. They're not in a pub drinking alcohol at least!" Owner of Hokaz in Leeds, Manoj Manota believes the ban should not have included shisha cafes because of the limited amount of tobacco use. He said: "I know that in shisha there is roughly 0.04 per cent nicotine and even less tobacco, so there is not much of a bad effect on people. It is not the same as if they had smokers around them." A spokesperson for the Department of Health said: "As it stands, places selling shisha would be affected by the ban. "The ban affects any kind of smoking in public indoor places, including the smoking of shisha." MPs voted by a huge margin to ban smoking from all pubs and private members' clubs in England. This also extends to cafes and restaurants. However the ban does not include private homes, residential care homes, hospitals, prisons and hotel bedrooms, and, revealingly the Houses of Parliament. Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt said the change, expected to take effect in summer 2007 and which also brings in fines of £2,500 for not stopping people smoking in restricted areas, would "save thousands of people's lives".